Reply to the comment on "Topological phase in two flavor neutrino oscillations"

TL;DR

This paper defends the authors' previous work on the topological nature of geometric phases in two-flavor neutrino oscillations against criticisms, reaffirming the topological interpretation when CP symmetry is conserved.

Contribution

It clarifies and defends the geometric and topological interpretation of neutrino oscillation phases, countering criticisms and reinforcing the original findings.

Findings

The geometric phase in neutrino oscillations is topological under CP conservation.

Criticisms against the topological interpretation are invalid.

The original geometric interpretation remains robust.

Abstract

In a recent paper [arXiv:0901.0790], we showed that there is a neat geometric interpretation of two flavor neutrino oscillation formulae, and that the geometric phase involved in the physics of oscillations is restricted to be topological as long as CP is conserved. This paper has been criticised by Bhandari [arXiv:1006.5935]. In the present note, we show that the criticisms are not valid and only reflect his failure to understand some crucial points.